1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a workstation having a closed position in which two outer walls of the workstation are substantially parallel to one another and an operating position in which the two outer walls are substantially 90 degrees to one another. The workstation has a working surface that is folded in the closed position and unfolded in the operating position. This invention further relates to a method of installing or removing a workstation from a work area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Workstations having open and closed positions are known, but previous workstations are too bulky when in the folded position or they do not provide the basic functions required by users such as a working surface that extends along two walls that are substantially perpendicular to one another, or they are too expensive or too complex and require major assembly and tools.
A workstation is described in the Biggel et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,588 when the workstation is in a closed position it has a large footprint that makes the workstation expensive to manufacture and also very expensive to transport from one location to another. The Biggel et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,044 describes another collapsible workstation that also has a large footprint and is complex and expensive to manufacture. Some previous workstations are not self-contained units in that they require additional attachments or wall-mounted shelving or other components other than a chair to make them workable. Other known workstations are too small when they are in the open position or too large when they are in the closed position or they do not provide sufficient privacy to a user. Other existing workstations require too much time to assemble or disassemble. The Gurin et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,546 describes a transportable workstation that has a large footprint even though the workstation is quite small when opened. The Pierce et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,214 describes a workstation that has a large footprint but is quite small when opened. It has a separate table on which the legs must be installed to set up the workstation and removed to close the workstation. The Jacobs et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,562 describes a workstation with a large footprint when closed and a small work area when opened.
Previous workstations often have substantial packaging materials that must be removed and disposed of each time that the workstation is set up.